The Daring Rescue Mission
by Cheryblosom-chan
Summary: To the Chef and the Baticeer: "If you ever wish to see these kids again, agree to hand over the Baudelaire fortune." Sunny and Beatrice take Trevor and Hunter with them on a daring rescue mission when Nikki Quagmire, Elizabeth Baudelaire, and Sam Quagmire get kidnapped by V.F.D. villains. A full sequel to my How It Should Have Been book! Swearing will be included. Universe*
1. The Crime

**A sequel to my How It Should Have Been book, it's not necessary that you read it but it does provide some context for how certain characters exist. Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"Sunny, make sure the kids get to bed on time ok?"

"Violet, you don't have to worry about a thing," Sunny responded casually, "The kids will be perfectly fine with me and Bea for a couple weeks."

Violet and Duncan tossed their suitcases in the trunk on the car. The adults were going on a 3 week vacation to France over the summer, and Sunny and Beatrice had been enlisted in watching the children during their own summer vacation from Whitmore Academy. Beatrice had been allowed to stay at the Baudelaire/Quagmire estate to help out while her parents, Dewey and Kit, were currently busy with V.F.D. business.

Klaus and Isadora hugged their daughter Lizzie and told her to stay safe. Violet and Duncan hugged Nikki and reminded her and her cousins to be good for their aunt. Quigley and Fiona hugged Sam and made sure to remind him to stay out of trouble while they're away. Once the adults said good-bye to the children Violet gave Sunny a list of rules for them to follow while the others are away.

"Now we'll be back on June 1st ok," Klaus said, "After all we want to be back in time for Lizzie's birthday."

"Of course," Sunny said, "And we'll all be right here waiting for you. Now you guys should get going or you'll miss your flight."

Violet and Klaus gave Sunny a hug before getting into the car with the others, mentioning that they would call to check on things as soon as they landed, and driving away.

Later that night Sunny and Beatrice put the kids to bed, they were all sleeping in Lizzie's room to keep them together, Sunny took the guest room and Beatrice slept on the couch. Sunny's pet snake Monty was asleep in his cage in the guest room, and Beatrice's pet bat Tawni was curled up on her perch in her cage. She had been brought by Beatrice to keep an eye on her. However, Sunny's promise about there being nothing to worry about while the parents were away was about to be broken.

 **~The next morning**

Sunny woke up bright and early to make breakfast for everyone; she went downstairs and saw Beatrice still asleep on the couch. She smirked and tossed a pillow at her to wake her up.

"Ow, what the hell was that for Sunny?"

Sunny laughed, "Get up already! We don't want you oversleeping."

Beatrice groaned and opened her suitcase to get out a change of clothes.

"I'm going to start making breakfast, once you're dressed can you wake up the kids?"

"Yeah I can do it, just give me a minute," Beatrice replied.

The baticeer went into the bathroom. Once she had finished her quick shower and changed into her day clothes she went upstairs to Lizzie's room.

Beatrice opened the door, "Kids it's time to-"

Sunny heard a loud scream come from upstairs. She dropped her cooking materials and went into the hall to investigate. Beatrice came running down the stairs in a frenzied panic.

"Bea what's wrong?!"

Beatrice handed Sunny a piece of paper and a few tears escaped her eyes. Sunny felt her heart stop when she read the paper:

 _To the Chef and the Baticeer:_

 _"If you ever wish to see these kids again, agree to hand over the Baudelaire fortune."_

Sunny felt rage fill her as she suddenly ripped the paper in half and looked at Beatrice who was now crying, "They're gone... Somebody took them..."

"They were here last night and now they've been taken! I can't believe we could let this happen! Oh, Sunny, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!"

Beatrice was sobbing at this point; Sunny reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She debated calling Violet and breaking the news to the rest of the family. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. There had to be another way. Suddenly, an idea fell into her head.

"Bea, where are your parents right now?"

Beatrice sniffled, "I think they're at the Hotel; they definitely aren't back at our house. They've had a lot of organization business to do lately."

"I'm going to call Trevor; he may not be a volunteer, but we need all the help we can get," Sunny replied, "You go into the library and behind Klaus' desk is a wall safe. The combination is 28-31-7, once you've got it open grab the spy-glasses, and the two commonplace books and bring them to me."

Beatrice nodded and hurried out of the room as Sunny dialed Trevor's number.

"Hey Sunshine, what's up," Trevor's voice rang through the phone.

"Trevor listen up, this is an emergency. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at Hunter's house. What's wrong?"

"Bring Hunter with you and get over to the estate as fast as possible. I'll explain everything, and hurry damn it!"

"Shit, I'll be right there!"

Sunny hung up the phone just as Beatrice returned with the items she requested. Sunny quickly flipped through Isadora's old notes on V.F.D. as she explained that Trevor and Hunter were on their way over.

"Sunny, we're not volunteers either! I mean I know stuff because my parents told me, but I'm not trained! What makes you think we can get the kids back on our own?"

"Because we're determined, that's what! Those kids mean the fucking world to me and I will not worry their parents by calling them with such horrible news. We're going to bring Trevor and Hunter with us to help. I know they aren't volunteers either, but damn we need all the help we can get!"

Beatrice paused and wiped her eyes, "Those kids mean a lot to me too Sunny... You guys are like my second family... I'll do it. Whatever it takes to save them; I'll do it! Even if it means bringing Trevor and Hunter into it, I don't care."

"That's the spirit, Bea."

When the two boys arrived, Sunny hurriedly explained that Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam had been kidnapped last night.

"What the hell?! They were kidnapped?"

"Yes, Trev, and we're going to save them! We have to find them before their parents get back from their vacation!"

Hunter looked shocked at Sunny's words, "You want to run by that me again? How the hell are we going to save a bunch of kidnapped children?"

Sunny and Beatrice looked at each other before the baticeer replied, "Guys, we have something to tell you and it's going to help us find them. This might take a while, so just listen please."

Trevor and Hunter looked at each other before nodding for them to proceed. Sunny took a deep breath and told the two boys everything about V.F.D. to prepare them for this daunting rescue that they were going to help with.

 **~End of Chapter!**

 **Nobody, nobody, messes with Sunny's nieces and nephew! They will pay for this. Next chapter will be up eventually!**


	2. Meeting at the Hotel

**Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"You mean to tell us that your parents are involved with a secret organization that works to put out the fires of the world, both literally and figuratively, and now enemies of that organization have kidnapped Sunny's nieces and nephew in an attempt to get her to hand over her family's money?"

"Yes Trevor that's exactly what I said," Beatrice replied, "Now are you two going to help us, or not?"

Trevor and Hunter looked at each other, processing the insane amount of information they had just received.

"Are you sure there isn't another way," Hunter asked.

"Look we're not trained volunteers," Sunny started, "Kit and Dewey let us leave the organization peacefully so we could have a normal life. But that doesn't mean we're completely clueless. Klaus and Isadora's old commonplace books should give us all the instructions we need to get through this. And if you guys won't help then we'll just go by ourselves."

Trevor took Sunny's hand and smiled, "I'll help you, Sunshine. I'd do anything for my girl."

Sunny smiled, "Thank you Trev; Hunter what about you?"

Hunter glanced at Beatrice before replying, "I'll do it; just tell me what you need me to do."

"Right first thing's first, we need to get to the Hotel Denouement. We'll take my car, we're going to meet with Kit and Dewey and see what information they can provide for us."

Sunny handed Beatrice one spyglass and put the other one in her pocket. She was silently thankful that Klaus and Isadora had kept these treasures for so many years. They would hopefully still be serviceable. The four of them set about putting together some supplies. Sunny put the two commonplace books inside her jacket and instructed Trevor to use his whenever the need arose. Beatrice put together a bag of basic supplies for them to take on their journey. Sunny ensured that Monty and Tawni could look after themselves for a few days. Monty was an Incredibly Deadly Viper after all; he was perfectly smart enough to ensure their safety. The snake even whined an apology that he hadn't been able to prevent the break in; Sunny forgave him.

Once everything was ready the four of them proceeded off to the Hotel.

"So tell us more about this secret organization, what does V.F.D. stand for," Hunter asked.

"Volunteer Fire Department," Beatrice answered, "Many years ago there was a schism in the organization that started with the theft of the sugar bowl; it divided the members in half with one side deciding it would be better to start fires. V.F.D. is made up of entirely wealthy families, so people who joined the fire-starting side were only interested in getting more money."

"Do you think your house fire when you were a baby was started by someone in this organization," Trevor asked.

Sunny wasn't too pleased to hear such a question. She and her siblings had accepted the theory that the Baudelaire mansion was burned down by Count Olaf. They were never told if this was accurate, but they had accepted it as the truth either way. He had been so delighted about it back then, and spoke of it so casually, that it was the most logical conclusion.

"Yes it was, Trev," She replied simply, "We'll talk about that later; right now we have to focus on finding the kids. Bea, which road do I take up here?"

When they arrived at Hotel Denouement, Beatrice led them inside. The boys stared around the ritzy building in awe. Sunny knew for a fact that the only people who had been here before were Quigley and Fiona back in the day. She, her siblings, and Duncan and Isadora never saw it as they had to go into hiding to get away from Olaf. But Beatrice had been here plenty, her father was the co-owner of the place, she knew her way around. She led them up to the concierge desk.

"Uncle Frank," Beatrice spoke up getting the desk manager's attention.

He looked surprised at her, "Beatrice, what are you doing here, young lady? Dewey said you were staying with the Baudelaires and Quagmires?"

"Uncle Frank this is an emergency; where are my parents?"

"In the library most likely, you know where it is," Frank replied.

She nodded and the four of them quickly hopped into an elevator to get there. Once on the correct floor, Beatrice hurriedly led the others to the massive hotel library that her father helped run. Sure enough, Frank was right. Inside the library, they found Dewey and Kit instructing new volunteers on coded poems protocol.

"Mom, dad, we have an emergency!"

"Alright everyone take a break we have to help out with this," Kit said as the people around them disbanded.

"Bea, Sunny, what's going on? And who are these two," Dewey asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Sir, we need help. Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam were kidnapped by villains and we have to find them before their parents get back from their vacation," Sunny pleaded.

Dewey and Kit shared looks of sheer horror. The two adults led the four teens to a secluded area of the library. Sunny gave them the torn ransom note they had received.

"This isn't good, there's no way we can track whoever wrote this," Kit said dejectedly.

"Who are these two gentlemen," Dewey asked, "And why are they with you?"

"This is my boyfriend Trevor Macready, sir," Sunny answered, "This is his friend Hunter, and they're going to help us find the kids. We already told them about the organization."

"I see, well there's no turning back now I suppose," Kit said, "We've had quite a few kidnapping in the past few months. Most of them have been cases from Dark Avenue."

Sunny looked horrified, "There have been others?!"

Dewey nodded solemnly, "Yes and we've been training new recruits round the clock while we search for them. We'll help in any way we can, but in order to do this we have one thing we have to do first: the four of you will have to be trained as volunteers."

Sunny looked down, "We... we don't have time. The rest of the family will be back in 20 days from now on June 1st."

Kit smiled, "Olivia was trained in a mere week back when she was just starting out. We can do it even faster if you're committed."

"I'll do it, mom," Beatrice said.

"That's my girl," Dewey smiled.

"I'll do it," Trevor spoke up, "I want to learn."

"Me too; if they're in then I'm in," Hunter added, "Anything for Bea- I mean the kids..." He looked away awkwardly hoping Beatrice and her parents had not caught his wording.

"If it's the only way," Sunny said, "Then I'll do it."

She then sighed and added, "Violet and Klaus aren't going to be happy about it though..."

Kit nodded, "Then let's get started. And by the way, boys, welcome to the V.F.D."

 **~End of Chapter!**

 **The next chapter will show what's happening with the kids.**


	3. New Friends

**This chapter takes place where the kids are. Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"Nikki, Lizzie, wake up!"

The two girls awoke to the sound of Sam's panicked voice and looked around. They were in a cage, not the warm comfort of their family home. Lizzie was now thankful that she had forgotten to take off her glasses before bed last night so she could see. They could tell they were in a cave based on the rocky walls behind them. The only source of light in the area was a few lit torches on the wall across from their cage. The last thing the three kids remembered was waking up in the middle of the night to three masked strangers breaking into the room, via the window, and knocking them out before they could call for help. They had fallen asleep in their day clothes as well, due to staying up late the previous night.

Lizzie immediately started to tear up, "Where are we?"

"I don't know... I just woke up," Sam replied, "My head is killing me."

"Mine too," Nikki said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh, Aunt Sunny is probably so upset..."

"Hey, Liz I'm sure Aunt Sunny and Auntie Beatrice will find us in no time," Sam patted Lizzie's back comfortingly.

They sat for a short while in silence together trying to keep their spirits up. Lizzie was fighting back tears, and Nikki was scared beyond belief. Sam was worried for their safety; he would never let anything happen to his family. And yet here they were, in a dark, cold cage inside some kind of cave all alone. What had they done to deserve this, they thought. After a while of silence, a voice interrupted it from the side wall of their cage.

"Hey, you're finally up," The voice said quietly.

Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam turned to see another cage close beside theirs with three other kids inside. The voice that spoke belonged to a girl just their age who was sitting at the cage bars closest to them. The three crawled over to her, and noticed the two other kids were asleep. She had long dark red hair that went down over her shoulders gracefully, pale skin with a few freckles across her face, and hazel eyes. In the dim light, they could see she had a pleasant smile on her face despite their situation. Sam couldn't help staring; she was actually pretty cute.

"Hi, I saw you guys get dragged in and I was hoping you'd wake up soon."

"How long have you been here," Nikki asked.

"I've been here for at least a week now I think... It's not like we have a calendar or anything. The other guys in my cage got dropped in around the same time as me. It's nice to see other friendly faces though. I'll see if I can wake them up."

She turned to the other two boys in her cage and gently shook them awake. Once the two woke up they joined her at the side of the cage. One was a pale boy with messy black hair and blue eyes, and the other was another pale boy with messy dark brown hair, and green eyes covered by black-rimmed glasses.

"What are your names," The red haired girl asked.

"I'm Nikki Quagmire."

"I'm Elizabeth Baudelaire, but everyone calls me Lizzie."

"I'm Samuel Quagmire, but you can call me Sam. We're all cousins."

"It's nice to meet you guys," The girl reached her hand through the bars politely; "I'm Lily Taylor."

When Sam went to shake her hand he did something unexpected. He had seen his father Quigley do it many times to his mother Fiona; she seemed to really like it too as it always made her happy. When he asked about it once, Quigley had told him that it was simply a gentlemanly greeting for when you meet a pretty girl. With that thought in mind, Sam decided to greet this pretty girl the same way.

"It's nice to meet you too," Sam replied; he gently kissed the back of her hand.

Lily's eyes widened at the gesture and her face turned a dark shade of red. She averted her eyes to the floor shyly and started playing with the hem of her black skirt as the other two boys introduced themselves.

"I'm Drake Hyde," The black haired boy said, smiling warmly at Nikki.

The boy with glasses smiled shyly at Lizzie and said, "I'm Lucas Shepard."

Lizzie shyly averted her eyes from Lucas. She wasn't allowed to talk to boys yet, and her naturally shy nature didn't help the situation. Neither was Nikki, but it seemed that now wasn't the time to be concerned about their parents' rules.

"Do you know why we were brought here," Nikki asked looking at Drake.

"Ransom apparently," Drake replied, "The other day I heard a few guards talking about one kid's family giving in and handing over a ton of money for his return. They just let him go after that. I guess our families aren't backing down."

"Our parents went on a vacation for a few weeks," Nikki said dejectedly, "They don't even know what happened to us; they just left yesterday. We were being watched by our aunt, and she's probably worried sick."

Drake sighed, "I know how you feel; my mom probably hasn't slept in days worrying about me. And when I was kidnapped they broke my bass guitar that I had with me so I can't even play my music to pass the time."

"You're a musician," Nikki said quizzically.

He perked up a little, "Yeah I only play bass though. Are you into music too?"

"No I'm an artist actually," She replied, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a dark purple sketchbook and pencil. She was now thankful that she had kept these items on her when she fell asleep. Nikki never went anywhere without her book.

Drake smiled, "That's really cool; can I see your drawings?"

Nikki smiled and handed him the book through the cage bars; Drake eagerly started flipping through it.

"So where are we exactly," Sam asked, still looking at Lily.

"I'm not sure," She replied, "But I know there's a stream that goes through this cave. I saw it on my way in when I was brought here. Every now and then a fish from the stream will come out of the water and cough. You can hear it if you listen hard enough. I feel so bad for those poor creatures; I wish I could help them."

Sam gave her a confused look, "You want to help the fish?"

Lily smiled, "Yeah I do, I want to be a veterinarian someday for marine animals."

Sam's eyes widened, "That's awesome; I want to be a marine biologist..."

"Cool," Lily replied; the two smiled at each other.

Nikki smirked at her cousin. She'd never seen him act like this around a girl before and she found it amusing.

Lucas reached into his jacket and pulled out a small novel, which caught Lizzie's attention.

"You have a book," The young Baudelaire girl commented quizzically.

Lucas blushed a little and pushed his glasses up his nose, "I never go anywhere without one. I love reading; I want to be an author someday. My family even named me after a book character because they love reading too."

Lizzie smiled, "I was named after a book character too. Which one did they pick?"

Lucas nervously averted his gaze from her, "It's just my middle name: Jess, after the main character in _Bridge to Terabithia_. It's one of my parents' favorite books."

Lizzie's eyes widened and her smile got a little bigger, "My middle name is Leslie..."

Lucas' eyes went wide and his cheeks turned darker red behind his glasses, "You... you're named after Leslie?"

Lizzie nodded shyly in response. The six of them were about to continue their individual conversations, but they were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming shut, and footsteps coming their way. Drake handed Nikki her sketchbook back and she hurriedly tucked it into her jacket. Lucas quickly put away his book, fearing their captors might take it from him. Two adults came walking down the rocky hallway talking softly to each other.

The children weren't able to hear what they were saying clearly but it seemed they were frustrated about something. The two men looked at the kids as they passed, but didn't stop to speak to them. Instead, they went further down the cave and stopped at a distant cage and opened it before grabbing the child that was inside and dragging them back down the hall they had come in from. The six children couldn't do anything except watch as a boy, who looked only a couple years older than them, was taken away. Once the two men and the boy were gone the children heard the loud slam of presumably the same door they had heard previously.

"How often does that happen," Lizzie asked quietly.

"Not very," Drake replied, "And whenever it does they never come back."

Nikki swallowed nervously, "Will that happen to us?"

Drake looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile, "I don't think so; you guys just got here. I suspect they do it if you've been here too long."

"The sooner we get out of here the better then," Nikki said.

Drake looked down for a moment, contemplating how he could help her feel better, before perking up a bit and saying, "I really like your drawings by the way. They're really good..."

Nikki smiled warmly at him, "Thank you..."

These six children may have been in a desperate situation and needed to be rescued, but they at least had each other to talk to while they waited.

 **~End of Chapter!**

 **The next chapter will of course go back to Sunny and the others as they prepare for their mission. See ya!**


	4. The Unfortunate Truth

**Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

Sunny studied the map in her hands closely. Beatrice was currently helping Hunter learn to work his new spyglass and she was trying to figure out where the villains might be hiding. They had spent the past several hours training with the other new recruits. Sunny had hoped she would never have to learn to use a spyglass, but now she was a master at it. She'd always been a fast learner, and that was going to pay off. She tiredly rubbed her eyes. Her worries about her family were exhausting her. Suddenly she felt a comforting hand on her back and looked up to see Trevor had sat down beside her at the library table.

"How are you holding up," He asked, concern lacing his voice.

Sunny put the map down and put her face in her hands with a loud sigh, "What on earth am I supposed to tell Violet when she calls?"

He looked down solemnly, "I... don't know."

As if right on cue, Sunny's phone started buzzing. She and Trevor shared sad looks and she debated ignoring the call, but that would only make matters worse. She took a deep breath and grabbed her phone and left the library to answer it so she wouldn't disturb anyone.

"Hi Sunny, I was starting to think you wouldn't answer," Violet's voice rang over the speaker.

Sunny attempted to keep a cheerful tone as she replied, "Oh, it's alright, sis. I was just busy with something."

"I hope the kids are behaving for you guys."

Sunny swallowed nervously, "Yeah they are. You don't have to worry about that."

"Well, if you say it's fine then I trust you, I have to go now," Violet said, "If anything comes up just call me or one of the others, good bye!"

Sunny hung up the phone and let out a frustrated sound.

"Was that your sister," A voice asked behind her.

She turned to see Kit standing behind her with a worried look on her normally calm face. Sunny nodded solemnly.

"I know how difficult this must feel. I'm a mother too," Kit turned her attention to the sight of her daughter talking happily with Hunter.

The two watched them quietly for a moment before Kit spoke again, "That boy looks at her the same way my husband looks at me."

Sunny gave a small smile at the comment, "Yeah well, Hunter has been in love with her for ages. She returns his feelings too."

Kit chuckled softly, "Dewey isn't going to like that… Don't worry Sunny, we'll find the children in no time."

The older woman walked off to another part of the library. Sunny noticed Trevor was looking at the map she had been examining previously. Her mind drifted to another problem that had arisen: telling Trevor about his parents.

Sunny had been told that her boyfriend's deceased parents were once fire-starters according to V.F.D's files. Now that Trevor had been roped into the organization; it was only fair to tell him right? She walked over to where Dewey was going through some files.

"Dewey sir," She spoke up getting the older man's attention, "I need you to do me a favor."

"Absolutely, Miss Baudelaire," Dewey smiled a bit, "What can I do for you?"

"I need to find that file on Trevor Macready's family that you found for me last Thanksgiving. I... want to show it to him."

The librarian nodded and beckoned her to follow him over to the 'M' cabinet. He dug through the papers within for several moments before handing her a file labeled 'Macready.' She then asked him for a copy of the Baudelaire file which he gave to her as well. Her family's was a much thicker file.

"Make sure he won't cause a scene now once he reads those," Dewey warned, "The things in there are not something anyone should want to see."

Sunny nodded, "I'll do my best, thank you."

She rejoined Trevor at the table and set the file in front of him. He gave her a confused look.

"Why does V.F.D. have a file with my family name on it?"

"Read it, and you'll find out. But before you do," Sunny paused briefly, "Just let me say I'm sorry."

He still looked confused, but his curiosity got the better of him. She watched as he quietly read the file to himself.

 _George and Audrey Macready:_

 _Status: deceased_

 _Previously, they had been V.F.D. detectives; however after several years of dedicated service they renounced the V.F.D. motto, and joined the fire-starting side of the schism. They are suspected to have at one point worked with Ernest Denouement, a large proprietor of many fire-starters. (This can no longer be proven true or false as Ernest Denouement was executed for his crimes against the organization.)_

 _On the 27th of November, at an indeterminate time, their family mansion was set ablaze by other members of the fire-starting side of the schism. Their charred remains were found within the ruins confirming their deaths. At present, we are unsure who started the fire and why._

 _Known crimes between the two: multiple murders, several accounts of arson, and an indeterminate amount of felonies_

 _End note: As it has been revealed to the fire-fighting side of the schism, they did have a son, name listed: Trevor Simon Macready. He is currently in attendance at Whitmore Academy brought by Orphan Affairs. No one has come after him in the years since his fire happened and he is currently under the safe care of volunteer Damien Whitmore, Principal of Whitmore Academy. According to our official reports: he is neutral to the organization._

Trevor looked up at Sunny with shock, "My parents were villains?"

She grabbed his hand comfortingly, "Yes they were, but listen to me ok? You aren't like them. Everything you've told me about how your parents acted it reminds me of the villains I've known in my past and you aren't like them."

"But Sunny... I-I what if my parents were the one who burned down your house?!"

Sunny shook her head, "They weren't."

"How would you know? How can you even stand to look at me now if you knew this all along?"

She handed him the Baudelaire file and replied, "Because I have a complicated history too. And I know for a _fact_ that your parents didn't burn down my house. If you're going to help me find my nieces and nephew, then it's time I told you the truth; all of it."

He watched as she opened the file and read aloud the first sentence on the page to begin telling her family's story:

 _"On Friday the 13th, at approximately 11:32 a.m., the Baudelaire mansion was set ablaze by a known fire-starter named Count Olaf, killing two volunteers: Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire..."_

 **~End of Chapter**

 **Yes Sunny told him everything she could, they've been together for several months at this point, and he is aware of V.F.D. now which means he has the right to know.**


	5. Finding the Hideout

**Begin!**

 **Universe***

 **~Normal POV**

When Sunny finished telling Trevor about her troubled past, and how she ended up where they were now, he responded by giving her a very tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him as well and heard him say something very quietly so that only she could hear.

"I'm sorry."

She smiled a little and pulled away from him, "You don't need to be, I've moved on from all that. I just wanted you to know before anything else happens."

"I just can't believe you went through so much at only a year old."

She chuckled lightly, "Yeah it is pretty amazing, isn't it? But I had my family there for me."

As Sunny went back to examining their map, Trevor couldn't help staring at her. How on earth could she be so calm and strong after all the horror she went through with her family? It was almost unreal. He had known that Sunny was the calm and collected one in their relationship, while he was the emotional and brash one, but this was a whole new level. Perhaps that was the reason why he fell for this lovely girl in the first place. She was perfect, almost too perfect. Sometimes he thought he wasn't even worthy of a girl like Sunny Baudelaire. Nonetheless, he was happy to be her boyfriend. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

"I have an idea about where they might be," Sunny spoke after a few moments.

She got up from the table and motioned for Trevor to follow her. He followed her around the library for several minutes before they found Kit once again.

"Kit, did you guys ever rebuild the Mortmain Mountains Headquarters?"

"We've been considering it," She replied, "But it never got past the planning stage, especially with how busy we've been doing damage control on the crimes set by Olaf."

"When we were brought to the Headquarters by Quigley back in the day, he took us through a secret tunnel. Were there other tunnels like it?"

"Yes there are," Kit explained, "They go all over Mount Fraught and they're all connected. Volunteers always had to use them when exiting the Headquarters to keep from raising suspicion. Why do you ask?"

"If there's no one using the tunnels right now," Sunny started, "Then it might be possible that villains took up residence in them. Which means that might be where the kidnapped children are being taken!"

Kit's eyes widened, "That's entirely logical, Sunny. Let me see if I can find a copy of the tunnel map."

They hurried over to the filing area once more and she quickly flipped through the archives before finding what she was looking for. She set out an old looking map that showed an intricate set of tunnels going through Mount Fraught and reaching out the top. They showed it to the others as well.

"How soon can we get there from here," Sunny asked.

"If you drive it should be at least a day or two," Dewey answered, "It's the climb through that you should be worried about. If you're right, and villains did take over the tunnel system then you'll need to sneak in, but where to start is the real question."

"I think I know a way, dad," Beatrice pointed at the map, "See how the Stricken Stream source waterfall goes here? Well what if we got in through the waterfall? There's a tunnel opening listed right there that probably hasn't been used in ages."

Dewey smiled, he was clearly proud of his daughter's sharp eyes; "Excellent work. We'll set up transport to get you into the water."

"And what if the villains realized that the tunnel was there and blocked it off," Hunter asked, "If they're smart, they'd do that right?"

"We'll just have to take that chance," Trevor replied.

"I never thought I'd go back through the Hinterlands again," Sunny said quietly as she drove.

It was dark out now, and despite how much Kit and Dewey insisted that they stay and rest at the hotel before going out on their quest, they refused the offer. Sunny was driving and Trevor was in the passenger seat, while Beatrice and Hunter were asleep in the back.

"I assume you never wanted to come out here again then," Trevor said.

Sunny chuckled softly, "You assume correctly."

He smiled a little at her and rested his hand on hers as it sat on the gear shift. After a minute he spoke again.

"Check out the lovebirds in the back."

Sunny glanced at her friends through the rear view mirror and smirked. They had fallen asleep leaning on each other without even realizing it.

"Sunshine," Trevor started, "Will your family be upset about me knowing everything that happened in the past?"

She shook her head, "Of course not, we were planning on telling you anyway when the time was right."

"And Fiona's brother... you said he was in prison right?"

"He was for several years, but he's been out for a long while now. I forgave him, and the rest of my family was able to do the same."

He smiled at her, "That's reassuring. I figured that since my parents were villains... you might... not want to be with me anymore."

"And why would I think that? Trevor, your family doesn't define you."

He felt a weight lift off his shoulders at her kind words. Without a second thought, he said the first response that came to his head.

"Sunny, I love you."

She smiled at him in return, "I love you too, Trevor. Now get some sleep, I'll wake you when it's your turn to drive."

 **~End of Chapter**

 **Next chapter will go back to the kids.**


	6. Bonding

**Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"So where do you guys live?"

"We live on a big estate with our whole family," Sam answered, "What about you guys?"

"We're all from different floors of the Dark Avenue apartment building," Lily said.

"Our parents have friends who live in the penthouse suite on Dark Avenue," Nikki explained, "Their names are Jerome and Charles Squalor and they're super nice when they visit. And they have a surrogate daughter named Hannah, she's cool."

"Your parents are friends with the Squalors," Drake said quizzically, "I've met them, they're really nice."

"What are your parents like," Lily asked.

Nikki smiled, "Well my mom's name is Violet, and my dad's name is Duncan. Duncan is the oldest of a set of triplets and my mom has two younger siblings."

Lizzie pointed to Nikki, "Her mom is my dad's older sister by two years; his name is Klaus. And my mom is Duncan's triplet sister Isadora."

"And my dad is Duncan and Isadora's triplet brother Quigley, and my mom is an old friend of theirs from back in the day named Fiona."

Drake, Lucas, and Lily shared shocked looks at this information.

"So... your dad married his sister-in-law?"

"Well yeah, they fell in love at the same time Uncle Duncan and Aunt Violet did," Lizzie answered, "They met the same way too; they went to school together."

"Oh, I wasn't judging," Lucas said, "I mean I have two moms; their names are Diana and Shelly."

"You have two moms? You're lucky," Drake commented, "I only have one; her name is Katherine. My dad walked out on us when I was a baby."

"My moms said I was a 'donation' which is why I don't have a dad. I'm not sure what that means though."

Nikki shrugged, "Maybe it's a grown-up thing."

"What about you Lily," Sam asked, "What's your family like?"

"I live with my mom and dad; their names are Nick and Natasha."

Their conversation was once again interrupted by the sound of a loud door slamming nearby. The two sets of kids quickly moved apart to avoid arousing suspicion in the guards. There was a chance that their captors might separate them if they were caught talking, and none of them wanted to take that chance. Another masked man came down the hall dragging two small blond boys behind him. He shoved them into a cage across from theirs and walked off without a second glance at the other kids. The two new boys quickly noticed the others. The two were obviously twins. Once the door was closed, one of the boys spoke up.

"You guys got captured too?"

"Yeah we did," Nikki answered, "Were you able to see where we are?"

"They took us through a secret passage," He said, "We're inside the Mortmain Mountains."

"Well, at least we know where we are," Lizzie said.

The other blond boy spoke this time, "You there, the girl with the glasses, I just wanted to say you'd be really cute if you got contacts."

Lizzie looked down and adjusted her glasses self-consciously. Despite her father and her Aunt Fiona wearing glasses, she was actually quite sensitive to the fact that she needed them. Many boys at school teased her about it; she wasn't sure why. Nikki and Sam always stood up for her though. And it would appear that this time was no different.

"Don't talk to our cousin like that," Sam warned glaring at the rude boy.

"She's perfectly fine the way she is," Nikki added with a reassuring smile.

The boy rolled his eyes, "Glasses are for dorks that spend too much time reading. Besides, you'll never get a boyfriend if you have them."

Sam was now enraged, "Hey my mom wears glasses you jerk!" Sam loved his mother dearly and hated to hear her insulted, even indirectly.

"And her dad wears glasses and he's the smartest guy in the whole world!"

The boy was about to retaliate when they were again interrupted by a guard returning. The guard opened the cage and grabbed the rude boy who had insulted Lizzie and dragged him away while he was fighting to escape. His twin could only watch as his brother was taken from him.

Once the guard was gone, Lily spoke this time, "Did you happen to see where they take the kids when they pull them out of the cages?"

The boy frowned and nodded, "There's a door they take them into just a bit away from here in another tunnel. I heard the guards say something about it as we were brought in. I think they said, 'we'll make fire-starters out of these kids in no time with Dr. Orwell's old machinery.'"

Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam felt their stomachs churn at the name. Dr. Orwell was a villain from their family's past. She was an optometrist who used hypnosis to get her patients to do her evil bidding. They had been told the horror of what it was like when Lizzie's father had been put under her evil trick, and they knew it was something to be feared.

"Is... is my brother going to come back," The boy asked fearfully.

"Well, whenever they take someone... they don't come back," Drake answered solemnly.

He swallowed before saying, "I'm sorry he was rude to you."

The boy curled up on the floor of his cage and turned away from them without another word.

There was a short silence before Lucas spoke up, "Ahem, Lizzie?"

She looked at him, "Yeah?"

Lucas was avoiding eye contact with her as he softly replied, "I think your glasses are quite fetching."

The compliment made Lizzie smile shyly and mutter a quiet 'thank you' for his kind words. Nikki, Sam, Drake, and Lily all smiled at that. During the next few silent moments, Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam contemplated the information given about their captors.

On the one hand, they should tell the other kids what's really happening here. But there was a problem: their family. They had been told everything about their family's rather troubled history from the fire that burned down the Quagmire mansion, to the one that destroyed the Baudelaire mansion, and everything that happened afterwards. But when they were told all this information they were warned that this was a family-only matter. Their family members were no longer involved with the secret organization known as V.F.D., with the exception of Fiona's stepfather Captain Widdershins; who is still an active volunteer. Should they break their parents' trust and warn their new friends about the horrors of Dr. Georgina Orwell? It was a decision none of them wanted to consider.

But on the other hand, Dr. Orwell was dead, and had been for quite some time. They had been told that she died by backing into a lumber mill saw-blade during a sword fight with their Aunt Sunny; who had only used her sharp teeth against a fully grown woman with a cane sword. It was an incredibly gruesome way to go, and her body was clearly seen by several witnesses confirming her demise. How did these people have her hypnotism technology? And more importantly how did they know how to use it? Klaus had explained that during the procedure, the tool had looked like a normal eye examine machine, the suspicious part was when she tied him down to the chair before turning it on. The thought that someone else had such horrible tools at their disposal, and was using them on children, was enough to give anyone nightmares for days.

With that thought in mind, the Quagmire/Baudelaire cousins opted to remain silent about what was happening here. They could only hope, and pray, that Aunt Sunny and Auntie Beatrice would come find them as quickly as possible. And hope that their new friends wouldn't suffer the same fate as the other kids.

The last thing they wanted was to be turned into fire-starters against their wills.

 **~End of Chapter**

 **I love showing bonding time with their new friends. :)**


	7. Infiltration

**Begin!**

 **Universe***

 **~Normal POV**

Sunny parked the car on the mountain trail and looked around with her spyglass. The area seemed clear, so it was safe to start walking. Kit had helpfully informed her that her car would be picked up by another volunteer later, as there was no way they would be able to get back to it with their plan. Beatrice pulled out her phone and called her parents. Once she hung up, she told the others that their escape vessel was in position awaiting their arrival. She also mentioned that Jacqueline and Larry were on their way to help the other kids escape. Sunny gave everyone a small communicator and they started their way up the trail. Thankfully, the notorious Mortmain Mountain snow gnats were nowhere in sight. Having them show up would only complicate matters.

"So where are we going exactly," Hunter asked.

Sunny was leading the way as she looked at their map, "The Headquarters, it was destroyed years ago by a fire, but the waterfall leading up Mount Fraught is there. It's the closest possible point to enter the tunnel system."

"We never found out who burned it down," Beatrice added quietly.

Hunter took her hand to comfort her, and she smiled at him thankful for his kind, understanding nature. The four continued their way up the trail until they found the cave that Sunny remembered entering with her siblings so long ago. It was empty now, but back then it had been filled with Snow Scouts.

"The secret entrance should be over here," Sunny noted leading them to the back of the cave.

Sure enough, the Vertical Flame Diversion was still there. Sunny explained that since it was day time, and they were alone, climbing it should be much simpler than it had been back in the day. Sunny started climbing using the footholds, and Trevor followed shortly after. Beatrice was about to start climbing, but she saw Hunter had a nervous look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

He blinked at her and softly replied, "Nothing... just uh... a little scared of heights..."

She smiled at him, "I understand, but we can't leave you down here. You want to help don't you?"

"Well, yeah of course I do. As a matter of fact, I kind of like the idea of being part of a secret organization. Do you think your parents will let me officially join if I ask?"

She chuckled, "Of course they will! Anyone can be a volunteer if they want to. Wait, you want to join?"

Hunter smiled, "Yeah I never knew stuff like this existed. I mean your parents do really noble work. And I would love to be a part of that. Especially if it meant I got to see you more often..."

Her eyes widened at him. He averted his eyes awkwardly.

"Listen, Beatrice I know I've never told you this... but I think you're amazing. And if you're ever interested after this, I would love to start something together."

She smiled, "I'd love to, but right now, we have a mission. Can you wait until we're safe?"

He grinned at her, "I'll wait as long as I need to, if it means I can be with you."

"Come on, let's climb," She said, "I'll be right here with you the whole time."

The two climbed up after the others, who were now much further ahead. Hours later, once they had all reached the top of the diversion, they found themselves in a curved hallway. The only source of light was the sunlight coming in through the grate on the ceiling. Sunny turned on the flashlight function on her spyglass and led them through the tunnel to the Vernacularly Fastened Door by memory. She pulled out Isadora's old notebook and began flipping through pages to find the code phrases she knew they needed.

"Since the headquarters hasn't been visited in years," She explained, "The code phrases to open the door should be the same. They used to change every season... Ah, here they are!"

She handed Beatrice the notebook and typed in the correct codes to open the door. She would have to thank Isadora later for writing these phrases into her notebook.

Beatrice was flipping through the pages randomly as they waited and stopped on a particular one, "Sunny, exactly how long did Isadora have a crush on Klaus?"

"Are you kidding? It was practically love at first sight. You should have seen the way they would stare at each other. It was adorable, but it was also disgusting. I remember telling Duncan and Violet to get a room, but I should have said it to Klaus and Isadora too. I love my in-laws, but they made my siblings act like fools around them."

"Love makes people do stupid things sometimes," Trevor laughed lightly, "Why do you ask, Bea?"

She snickered, "Because of this page that describes the time that Isadora accidentally walked in on Klaus changing into his Prufrock uniform after a shower, and she'd never felt so embarrassed to find out he had abs."

Sunny finished typing the codes, and as the door started to open turned to Beatrice with a disgusted look, "Dude, that's my brother. I don't want to hear about Isadora's fantasies about my brother. I don't care that they're married now, I don't need to know what they were thinking of each other back then." She snatched the notebook out of her hand and put in back in her pocket.

Beatrice laughed as they went out into the open area of the destroyed V.F.D. Headquarters, "I'm just shocked that a guy like Klaus has abs to begin with. He's such a bookworm that it doesn't seem possible."

Sunny rolled her eyes, "Yeah well Klaus, Duncan, and Quigley all got themselves into pretty good shape eventually; I think it was to impress their significant others. So I'm not surprised. But enough about that we have a mission to get to."

"So this is what's left of the Headquarters," Trevor asked looking around the ruins.

"Yes it is," Sunny replied, "It looks exactly like I remember. The waterfall is over there."

The waterfall that went down into the Stricken Stream was flowing loudly, as it was much warmer here in the summer time. Sunny pulled out her tunnel map and led them over to the rushing waters.

"How are we supposed to get to the entrance with the water flowing like this?"

Sunny stepped as close as she could to the waterfall without falling in and peered behind it. As it had been shown on their map there was a cave entrance behind the rushing water. She glanced down and noticed a small walkway that they could use to get through behind the area. She instructed the others to be careful and started leading the way over to the cave entrance. They sidled along the narrow walkway and reached the cave entrance safely.

What they found within was another door, but this one was not fastened with a lock. They could hear the waterfall flowing behind them as they approached the door and went inside. They were now inside the secret system of V.F.D. tunnels that led all over Mount Fraught. The only source of light was the flashlight on Sunny's spyglass that she had turned back on. Unfortunately, there was a new problem; there were two different paths before them.

"Which way do we go," Hunter asked quietly, hoping that an enemy wouldn't show up anytime soon.

Sunny studied their tunnel map closely, "The tunnels connect after a certain point. But if we want to find the kids faster, we'll have to split up."

"Is that a good idea? What if we get caught," Beatrice asked.

"It's the only way. We all have communicators so we can keep in touch. Bea, you and Hunter take the left path, Trevor and I will take the right. We'll meet up where the tunnels connect and share whatever we can find. If you find the kids, call us on the communicators and we'll come find you. Whatever you do guys, don't get separated. Let's go."

Sunny took Trevor's hand, and the two couples walked off in separate directions to begin their daunting search through the mountain.

 **~End of Chapter!**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	8. Sneaking Around

**Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"Hey Sunshine?"

"Yes, Trevor," Sunny replied as they stealthily made their way through the tunnels.

"What are we supposed to do if we run into a guard or something?"

She chuckled, "That's easy; we just knock them out."

"Uh, ok... if you say so."

It was pretty clear that Sunny wasn't kidding. She had a fierce look in her lovely brown eyes. She was determined to save her family.

"My phone is buzzing," Sunny said as she pulled it out of her pocket, "It's Duncan! What do I do?"

Trevor shrugged, "Uh, just answer it I'll keep watch around the corner over there."

"But- ok..." Sunny took a deep breath and answered the phone while Trevor went on a little ahead, "Hey Duncan! Are you guys having a good time on your vacation?"

"Yeah we are, thanks for asking," Duncan replied, "How are the kids?"

Sunny felt her stomach churn, "Oh, they're perfectly fine."

There a small pause, "You don't sound so sure."

"No, no, really they're fine! You can tell everyone else that everything is totally fine! Anyway, they miss you and they can't wait for you to come home! Bye!" She quickly hung up the phone before he could respond and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She caught up to Trevor, "That was nerve-wracking. Duncan is too good at reading people; he almost saw right through me."

"Yeah if they call again maybe I should answer."

"Oh, that would be way worse," Sunny replied, "Bea and I aren't allowed to have boys over while the rest of the family isn't home."

They started walking again, "You called us over without hesitation when you needed us."

"It was an emergency and we left anyway. Besides they don't have to know you were over."

"Were you planning on _not_ telling your family what happened to their kids?"

She shushed him, "I will get around to it once I'm ready. Now get over here because someone is coming!"

She quickly pulled him aside behind a few rocks and they watched as a masked guard came towards them. He didn't seem to notice their voices. He stopped next to a wall and went through a door that had been built into it. They checked to ensure that nobody else was coming and looked through the window in the door. They saw that nobody was near the door and slowly opened it before crawling inside.

They were now on a metal walkway that had been built into the area. They peer down through the railing to see a horrible sight. Down the stairs, was a set-up of old optometrists' equipment. An older man, who looked to be in his early 50s, was standing by the machine looking like he was working on it. He was dressed as a doctor and under his arm he had a suspiciously familiar walking cane. Sunny instantly felt nervous. She had _seen_ that horrible machine before. The last time she saw it was in Dr. Georgina Orwell's office, back when it had been used on Klaus. She felt her blood boil just looking at that terrible contraption. She glanced at Trevor and made a motion telling him to stay quiet; he nodded his response.

"Aha, it's finally ready," The doctor said after a few moments, "Bring the patient over here and we'll try it again."

The guard went over to the other side of the room and grabbed a small blonde boy who was struggling to get away. The poor child was screaming for help, which only made Sunny and Trevor feel worse for having to watch the scene. The boy was forced into the chair and quickly tied down with arm and leg straps. Sunny was enraged. She was about to watch what happened to her brother so many years ago.

"Now sit still you stupid child. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Dr. Winston Orwell," He reached over and pulled the eye examine machine close to the boy, "Now look into the machine and tell me what you see, boy."

The boy softly replied an answer and the doctor nodded in mild approval, "Good now we can begin."

Sunny and Trevor watched in silent horror as the boy was put through the doctor's hypnosis treatment. They were turning this boy into a fire-starter using Dr. Orwell's old machine. They could tell from the phrasing that the doctor was using.

 _"This place is Hell,"_ Sunny thought bitterly.

After several minutes, the boy was released from the chair. He was calmer now, and seemed unafraid of the scary men around him.

"There we go, that's more like it. Now go put him with the other converts."

The boy was then led away by the guard to another room nearby. From Sunny and Trevor's position they could see the room had at least a dozen other kids inside. All of them were sitting quietly and calm without any fuss.

Dr. Orwell picked up a nearby clipboard and checked off something with his pen, "That's 13 kids so far. I've never had such a high success rate. My dear sister would have been proud if she were here. Now go get me another patient. That boy had a brother get him next."

Sunny and Trevor quickly exited the room and rushed away from the door.

"Where do you think the kids are?"

"I don't know, but I hope they are close."

Beatrice and Hunter quickly traversed the passageway, with many turns and more than a few guards passing by whenever they stopped to hide. Eventually, they found a heavy door blocking their path. Hunter shoved it open and they found themselves in another part of the tunnel. This one looked different though because it had several cages lining the walls. Beatrice felt her heart skip a beat when they started looking through the bars of each empty cage. They must have kept a lot of kids here recently. Before they could speak, the two heard three voices that filled them with utter joy and relief.

"Auntie Beatrice! Hunter!"

Beatrice ran up to the cage, "Oh my god! Nikki, Lizzie, Sam oh, my little darlings you're alright!" The three hugged her through the cage bars.

"How on earth did you find us," Sam asked.

"Don't worry about it kids," Beatrice replied smiling widely, "Hunter help me get them all out. And hurry, we don't know if somebody is going to show up."

She worked to pick the cage lock on their cage while Hunter picked open the other cage beside them with three other kids inside.

"Is that all of them," Hunter asked.

"There was another boy across from us but he got taken away a while ago," Lizzie replied.

"Is Aunt Sunny with you," Nikki asked worriedly.

"Yes she and Trevor are here and we've got an escape vessel ready. Who are these kids?"

"Oh, these are our new friends," Nikki pointed to each of them, "This is Drake, Lucas, and Lily and they want to come with us."

"We hope you don't mind," Sam said.

Beatrice smiled, "Not at all, we're planning to help everyone."

The six kids started following the two teens down the hall as they talked.

"What do you mean by a boy got taken away a while ago," Hunter asked.

"The guard came by and dragged him away. They said it was to use Dr. Orwell's old machinery to turn them into fire-starters," Sam replied, "Do you know what that means Auntie Beatrice?"

Beatrice felt her heart drop into her stomach. As a child that was raised in the V.F.D., she knew exactly what the name Dr. Orwell meant. Thankfully, these kids didn't know just what that would entail. She nodded solemnly and they continued their escape. Beatrice glanced at the kids and noticed something about Lizzie that she hadn't seen before.

"Lizzie, where did you get that book?"

The small girl blushed and put the novel in her pocket, "Lucas gave it to me. He had it with him and he said I could read it since he was finished with it."

Lucas smiled shyly at her and adjusted his black glasses. Beatrice couldn't help smirking a bit. She had also noticed Nikki and Drake smiling at each other.

 _"Those poor boys... Duncan and Klaus are going to kill them."_

Hunter opened the heavy door and checked for any oncoming guards. There were none so the rest of them quickly stepped out into the hall. He pulled out his communicator and called Trevor.

"Trevor, Sunny, we found the kids and they're safe with us. They even made some new friends. Get back to the waterfall entrance we came from so we can get out of here."

"That's a relief," Trevor replied, "Sunny is talking to Jacqueline right now, they made their way inside through the summit entrance and we just found them. Don't worry about the other kids; she and Larry will get them out safely they promise."

"Got it, we'll meet you guys outside."

 **~End of Chapter**

 **Yay reunion!**


	9. Almost Free

**Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"Hunter and Bea have the kids, they even made some friends. We're going to get them all out together," Trevor explained after putting away his communicator.

"That's good with any luck we'll get out of here in no time; dear you take the left side I'll take the right," Jacqueline said, addressing her husband Larry.

He nodded in response and moved into position. Larry and Jacqueline were still together after all these years it seemed. They were even working together on a new V.F.D. program that allowed volunteers to adopt orphaned children into the organization so they would be safe, and have a place to call home. Sunny and Trevor led the two volunteers to the door that they had eavesdropped on earlier. Jacqueline and Larry readied their spyglasses.

"Ok, we're going in there, and we'll do whatever it takes to get the kids out. Sunny, you two go find Beatrice and get your family out of here," Jacqueline commanded.

Trevor nodded and motioned for Sunny to follow him back through the tunnels. Before she did however, Sunny stopped and looked back at the two older volunteers with a small smile.

"Jacqueline, Larry, it's good to see you guys again..."

They smiled at her. "It's good to see you too Sunny," Larry said, "I'm glad you're so grown up."

Sunny waved to them before running off with Trevor leading the way.

"Which way was the exit?"

Sunny quickly pulled out their map, "If we just keep going we should get there eventually. If only Quigley were here, that man has a photographic memory when it comes to maps."

Trevor hurriedly pulled her along with him once they heard the sound of scuffling coming from the torture room. Jacqueline and Larry must have begun their assault, which meant they had little time to waste. According to Larry, Kit has other volunteers working to seal off the other exits to the tunnels so they can't be used anymore. They had to make it back to the ruined headquarters fast.

"Auntie Beatrice, where's Aunt Sunny," Nikki asked.

"She'll join us eventually," Beatrice replied as they opened the exit door, "We should meet her outside."

"Alright kids, be careful sidling along the walkway here," Hunter said.

He led the way as they maneuvered the narrow walkway once more. Hunter helped each of the kids get over the rest of it one by one until they were all safely across. Beatrice joined them and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief from being out of the mountain. The two teens led the kids over to another area of the stream to wait for the others.

Sunny and Trevor made their way out of the exit at last. They followed the waterfall walkway back out to the headquarters to find something they wished they hadn't found.

Standing by the Stricken Stream was Beatrice and Hunter standing protectively in front of the six children. And in front of them was Dr. Winston Orwell holding out his cane sword towards them menacingly. The doctor turned to Sunny upon hearing them arrive.

He smiled evilly at her, "Well, well, well... Sunny Baudelaire, I presume? All grown up now I see?"

Sunny instinctively pulled out her spyglass and nudged Trevor to go to the others; it wasn't a weapon necessarily, but it'll do. "Let us go."

Winston pointed his cane sword at her, "I can't do that. Do you recognize this sword?"

"Yes I do," Sunny replied, "It was Georgina's."

Winston faltered for a moment; he almost looked mournful, "Yes Georgina, my dearest sister."

"Funny she never mentioned you."

"How would you know? You killed her."

"Georgina backed into a saw-blade by accident! I didn't do anything!"

"You are still responsible for her death," Winston smirked, "And avenging her will be a sweet bonus."

"How did you find out we were here?"

"I have eyes everywhere. I knew where your family lived; I knew who you were, and I knew about your closeness with Kit and Dewey's little brat over there as well. You think the fire-fighting side has all the resources? We villains have our resources too. Ever since I saw my sister's grave I knew I had to continue her work for the fire-starting side of the schism. And I've nearly accomplished that task. Your volunteer friends may have gotten my patients out of the caves, but they're still under my control."

Sunny glanced worriedly at the others. There was very little way out of this situation without a fight. Then she remembered something. Something very important that had helped her siblings in the past when she was facing down a very similar situation. She pulled out her communicator.

"Jacqueline, are those kids alright?"

"They're safe, and the hypnotism machine is destroyed, but we need the code word to snap them out of the trance," Jacqueline answered, "We just reached the outside mountain trail and the last exits are being sealed off."

"Inordinate."

"What?"

"The code word is inordinate!"

There was a pause before Jacqueline replied, "It... it worked! They're all back to normal!"

"Good now get them out of there as fast as possible," Sunny replied, "I have a sick doctor to deal with."

She put away the device as Winston stared at her in shock. "How did- But you-"

Sunny smirked, "You're too much like your sister, Doc. You both use the same code words on your patients. Next time try thinking of a harder word. Guys, get the kids away from here; I've got this!"

Trevor gave Sunny a worried look, "But-"

"Don't argue with me! Now go!"

Winston attacked. Sunny only had her spyglass to defend herself in this sword fight, but at least the kids and the others were safe. She noticed them run downstream as she fought off the mad doctor.

"Georgina was a crazy, evil, bitch! And you're no better!"

"She was a genius; a true role model for the villains of tomorrow!"

"She worked with Olaf!"

"Count Olaf, that bastard broke her poor heart and left her to die under a bridge! I'm shocked she gave him a second chance!"

"I've seen what your technology does!"

"Then you've seen why I have to continue her work! I'm going to make an army of hypnotized fire-starters and use them to get the fortunes of V.F.D. protected families. Just like how Georgina would have wanted!"

"You're a sick, twisted, old bastard," Sunny replied as she had cornered him in the fight right where she wanted him: next to the Stricken Stream, "And you messed with the wrong family!"

With one shove, Dr. Winston Orwell fell into the rushing waters of the Stricken Stream and was washed away by the rapids. The paths branched off in two different directions at one point and she could see the vague shape of the older man being rushed down the right path rather than the left. She remembered from the time when she, her siblings, and the reunited Quagmire triplets rode a boat down this very stream and had taken the left branching path to reach the sea. She didn't know where the other path led, but was sure that the man wouldn't be troubling anyone else ever again, regardless of what happened to him. She took a deep breath and looked down to see that he had dropped his cane sword.

Sunny leaned down and picked up the devious weapon. She then snapped it in half and tossed the pieces in the stream, never to be seen or used again by anyone else. She quickly ran down the path by the stream to the area where the others were waiting.

"Aunt Sunny!"

Sunny skidded to a halt and immediately wrapped her arms around Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam in fiercely tight embrace.

"Are you ok? Did they hurt you?"

"We're fine," Lizzie answered, "They just kept us locked up that's all."

Sunny breathed out a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank god. Your parents are going to kill me when they find out what happened here..."

"It wasn't your fault that we got taken," Sam said, "They knocked us out before we could call for help."

"Yeah well I'm still going to be grounded for a century for lying to your parents about everything being ok," She looked up and noticed the other kids standing behind Beatrice, "Who are they?"

Her nieces and nephew perked up. "This is Drake, Lucas, and Lily," Sam answered pointing to each of them, "They're our new friends and they wanted to escape with us."

"This is our real aunt, Sunny, and her boyfriend Trevor," Nikki explained, "Beatrice is a close family friend, but she's not related to us, and Hunter is Trevor's friend."

Sunny smiled, "Well it's nice to meet you all. I'm glad you managed to find some good people there."

Beatrice smiled, "Speaking of escaping, it looks like our ride is here."

She pointed to the water and sure enough an object rose from the murky depths. It was a submarine. Sunny helped the others all climb onto the surface as it waited for them to board. And on the top hatch leading inside were the gold letters that spelled out its name: Queequeg.

 **~End of Chapter!**

 **I wonder how long it'll take for people to catch the reference I made with Winston's name...**


	10. The Queequeg

**Begin!**

 **Universe***

 **~Normal POV**

Sunny led the way down the ladder into the depths of the submarine. She helped the kids down one by one. Once everyone was in the narrow hallway Sunny opened the door and led them out. Trevor and Hunter were looking around curiously at the submarine as Sunny led them all down the hallways to a place she seemed to know. The kids looked excited and curious. Sam especially seemed enthused, and once they reached a huge open area of the ship that appeared to be the main deck, everyone who had not been on this vessel before immediately learned why.

"Grandpa!" Sam eagerly ran up to hug a man in a sailor captain's uniform.

"Aye! My favorite grandson safe at last," The man said, "Nice work on rescuing the kids, Sunny! You arrived just on schedule and without hesitating too!"

Nikki and Lizzie went to hug the man too, "Hi Captain!"

He bent down to give the girls a hug, "Aye, it's good to see you too, girls! You're lucky you have an aunt like Sunny Baudelaire looking after you."

He stood and smiled at the others, "I'm Captain Widdershins, welcome aboard the Queequeg! I'm Sam's grandfather."

"Oh, grandpa we met some new friends," Sam gestured to them, "Drake, Lucas, and Lily."

"Aye, nice to meet you kids," The captain smiled at them, "We're going to Hotel Denouement, and once we're there you'll regroup with Kit and she'll arrange transport for you three to go home. In the meantime, the ship is you temporary home as much as it is ours."

"Thank you for helping us, Captain," Sunny said gratefully.

He nodded at her, "The Orwell's are a sick people, Sunny. The world is much better off without them. You did the right thing. And it's good to see you too Beatrice, make sure to give your parents my regards when we reach our Vigorously Fixed Destination."

Beatrice chuckled, "Aye, aye, Captain."

Sam, Nikki, and Lizzie took their new friends with them over to an area of the main deck with several couches for them to sit down and have their own conversations. Sunny and Beatrice introduced Trevor and Hunter, and Captain Widdershins went to the helm to start the ship once more.

"So this is Fiona's stepfather," Trevor asked quietly.

"Yes he's a little eccentric, but he's a good man," Sunny answered with a smile.

While they were having their own separate conversations as they were being driven to safety, another man joined them on the deck. Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam went to hug this man as well.

"Hi Uncle Phil!"

Phil smiled, "Hi kids! Oh boy is it good to see you! I was so worried when we got Kit's mission to save you guys!"

Phil limped over to a chair and sat down to do a bit of maintenance on his prosthetic leg. He casually explained that he was the ship's cook, and his leg had been lost in a lumber mill accident.

Hunter chuckled, "Is that all your crew captain sir?"

"Actually, no it isn't," He smiled.

Sunny looked a bit confused at first by his statement until she saw that another person had joined them on deck. He was a man with shiny, silver hooks instead of hands.

Sam gasped, "Uncle Fernald!" The little boy instantly ran to his uncle for an admittedly awkward hug.

Fernald was grinning broadly, "My favorite nephew, it's so good to see you!"

"I'm your only nephew, Uncle Fernald!"

Sam immediately brought the other kids over to introduce them to his uncle.

Phil finished working on his leg and stood up; he gestured to Sunny, "I have to get back down to the kitchen now to make some food for everyone. These kids must be starving after all they've been through! Sunny if you'd like to help me out I'd be honored."

Sunny smiled, "Trevor is quite a chef himself, Phil he'd be happy to help if you'll let him."

Trevor nodded and followed Phil out of the room. Beatrice chuckled quietly at Trevor and Hunter's instant panic at seeing Fernald's hooks. It was something that always took getting used to. Sunny then ushered the six kids away from Fernald.

"It's nice to see you," Sunny said.

Fernald smiled, "You too, kid, and thank you for saving my nephew."

Sunny smiled at him, showing off her unusually sharp canine teeth, "Hey he's my nephew too you know!"

"Yes, but he's mine by blood."

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Details..."

Beatrice walked up to them and gestured to the other kids with a smirk, "Taking all bets on how long it's going to take Duncan, Klaus, and Quigley to kill those two boys for all that flirting with Nikki and Lizzie."

Sunny's jaw dropped open at the sight. There was no denying it; those kids were _definitely_ flirting. It wasn't as obvious as it had been when Sunny had watched Violet and Duncan flirt, or as stupidly clueless when Klaus and Isadora would flirt, but it was there nonetheless.

"Oh, my god... those poor boys don't know what they got themselves into," Sunny replied.

Fernald chuckled, "I'd hate to see how that turns out. Fiona told me the girls aren't even allowed to talk to boys yet. For what it's worth, I was protective of my sister too."

"Duncan and Klaus are going to flip. And Quigley is just as protective as an uncle. Violet and Isadora are going to have their work cut out for them convincing their husbands to lay off," Sunny said, she then chuckled and added, "But they are pretty adorable together right?"

"Yes they are," Beatrice said nodding in agreement.

Sunny's phone started buzzing in her pocket she quickly excused herself to answer it in the hall.

"Hey Klaus, how is everyone?"

Sunny felt her heart stop when her brother didn't have a reply but a question.

 _"Where the hell are you?"_

 **~End of Chapter**

 **Uh, oh, Sunny is going to be in trouble…**


	11. The End

**Begin!**

 **~Normal POV**

"Klaus if you'll just let me explain!"

"Tell me where you are right now, Sunny!"

"It's a long story-"

Sunny heard the sound of frantic voices over the phone and the voice of Isadora took over, "Where the hell is my daughter Sunny?! So help me god if my baby is hurt-"

"Izzie they're fine! They're all safe with me!"

"Tell us where you are," Isadora demanded. Sunny had never heard her so pissed off.

Sunny took a deep breath, "Look I will explain everything when we see you guys but for now we're on the Queequeg and we're all together."

As expected, Fiona's voice took over, "Put my stepfather on the phone this instant!"

Sunny flinched at the harshness of her voice. Anyone who knew the Baudelaire/Quagmire family was well aware that Fiona was one to watch out for when she was angry. Sunny was often in awe at how much that woman could swear in one sentence; despite the fact that the adults tend to hold their tongues around their kids to teach them proper manners. She reluctantly agreed and went back over to where the captain was driving the ship.

"Um, Captain sir? It's Fiona and she wants to talk to you right away..."

He gave Sunny a wary look, "How mad is she?"

Sunny only nodded her response. That was all the captain needed to know that he was about to get an earful. He took the phone and Sunny could only watch as his stepdaughter screamed at him through it. She could barely hear what she was saying but it didn't sound pleasant. This went on for several minutes. Everyone else who was in the room could only imagine what was being said as the captain looked pale and scared of his stepdaughter's fury.

After some time apparently someone else took over on the other end of the conversation. The captain hung up and handed the phone back to Sunny.

"Change of plans," He said, "We're dropping you off at the harbor, and their parents will be waiting for us. Beatrice, call your mother and have her arrange transport for the kids' friends. We'll be arriving there within a few hours."

As Beatrice pulled out her own phone to call her mother the captain leaned over to Sunny and added, "By the way, Violet and Klaus said you're grounded."

"I suppose that's fair."

When the Queequeg arrived at the city harbor everyone exited the submarine with mixed emotions. The submarine with its crew of three now quickly departed from shore as soon as its passengers were on the shore. Captain Widdershins was obviously not interested in sticking around with his very pissed off stepdaughter here.

Sunny was scared of whatever other punishments she was going to receive from her family members when they heard the full story. Nikki, Lizzie, and Sam happily rushed to their parents' arms; their parents fussed over every little aspect of their appearances to ensure they weren't hurt. Kit had arrived in her taxi to take the other kids to their homes and to take Beatrice with her. Hunter also left with Beatrice and her mother, as Kit said she would take him back to Hotel Denouement to continue his volunteer training. This left Sunny and Trevor alone with her family; awaiting the inevitable screaming that was going to ensue.

Sunny and Trevor were told to get into Violet's car as Duncan drove; the others would be following them home in their cars. Nikki gave her aunt an apologetic look as they were driven home. None of the adults had dared to speak to Sunny yet. She could tell they were all filled with relief after seeing their children safe, but they also looked like they were holding their anger in.

After some time Duncan interrupted the silent drive with a simple question, "Trevor, were you aware of what was going on?"

Trevor paled; Duncan was usually polite to him, but his voice was strict and angry like a stern father, "Ahem, yes sir..."

"Then you're coming home with us for now. Wherever you're staying over summer break we'll take you there later," Violet said. She sounded mad too, and Trevor had been told that the women of the Baudelaire/Quagmire family were all particularly infamous for having fiery tempers. He also knew Sunny was no exception to this.

Trevor swallowed nervously and replied, "Yes Mrs. Quagmire..."

When everyone arrived at the estate the children were instantly sent to their rooms and told not to come back down until they were given permission. Sunny and Trevor were ushered into Klaus and Isadora's home by the adults.

"Sit."

Sunny and Trevor didn't object and quietly sat down on the couch.

"First of all," Violet started, "Did John tell you you're grounded?"

"Yes he did," Sunny replied softly.

"Good. Now, Sunny, when Duncan called you while we were in Paris, he realized something was wrong by the sound of your voice when you spoke to him."

Sunny took a shaky breath, "I figured he might..."

Duncan nodded, "So we took an express flight and came back early to find the houses empty of everyone except Monty, and Bea's bat, Tawni. I'm sure she'll come pick her up later." He gestured to the two cages in the room that had the snake and bat in them. Monty looked guiltily at his mistress; obviously he wished he could have done more to help.

Klaus seemed to want to get to the point faster as he asked, "What the hell happened?"

"And don't leave out any details," Isadora added with a glare.

Sunny glanced at her family members one by one. Here goes everything. She told them what happened. Every little detail that could even be remotely important she told them. How the kids got taken, how they met new friends in their prison, how they figured out where they were being hidden, how Sunny dealt with Dr. Orwell's evil brother; she spared no details at all. Once she was finished she reached into her pockets and pulled out the spyglass and Klaus and Isadora's commonplace books. She handed them over and apologized for stealing them; even if they ended up being necessary.

"There," Sunny finished the story, "Now you know what happened. And I am so _sorry_ that I didn't tell you immediately! But you had just left... and I didn't know what would happen if you knew right away! So I just thought we could handle it and then I'd tell you after we saved the kids and hopefully you'd understand but I guess you don't. I'm sorry ok? I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry."

There was a pause. Sunny waited for the inevitable shouting. She was already grounded so what was the point of arguing anyway. But to her surprise they didn't start screaming.

"Sunny we're not mad about you going after them. We're mad because you lied to us about it," Duncan said.

"You're a damn good aunt," Fiona said, "And we're extremely grateful that they're not hurt."

"You did a very brave thing; even if you dragged the others into it on the way," Violet said, "Thank you for doing your job."

Sunny smiled at them, "You really mean that guys?"

"Of course we do," Klaus replied. He then paused and added, "But you're still grounded."

Sunny's spirit fell a bit as she responded, "I understand... but can you lessen the sentence at least?"

"No," Violet and Klaus said simultaneously.

Sunny nodded, "It was worth a try..."

"Next time we go on vacation," Quigley started, "We'll take the kids with us."

Duncan offered to drive Trevor home. A while after they were gone, Beatrice came by to pick up Tawni. Later that night, when Sunny was about to go to bed in the guest room at Violet and Duncan's house, she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. She opened it to see her nieces and nephew had come to see her.

"Nikki shouldn't you be in bed? Lizzie, Sam, your parents will freak if you're not in your houses after what happened today."

"We know," Nikki said, "We wanted to talk to you."

Sunny shrugged and let them in, closing the door behind them. The three sat down on Sunny's bed.

"We're sorry you got grounded," Sam said, "Do you know when your sentence will be over?"

"No idea," Sunny replied casually, "All I know is that I haven't seen Violet and Klaus this mad at me in ages. I'll be fine, and they'll calm down eventually."

"Thank you for saving us Aunt Sunny," Lizzie said.

"Yeah, we don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come for us so fast," Nikki said, "Thank you!"

"And we're really glad you saved our friends too," Sam added, "Thank you!"

Sunny smiled fondly at them and quickly wrapped them in a tight hug.

"You're welcome kids..." Sunny felt a few tears sting her eyes, she held them in and said softly, "Your Aunt Sunny will never let anything happen to you. I promise."

Sunny had kept it in during the mission but she had been scared to death the second she read that ransom note. She felt like a failure for not being able to protect her family. These three may have only been her two nieces by blood and a nephew by marriage but they were as much her children as they were their parents'. Sunny had meant it from the bottom of her heart when she said that these kids meant the world to her. They were a reminder that life had changed for the Baudelaire/Quagmire family. They were a symbol that they were all together at last and nothing would tear them apart ever again. They were a symbol that life had gotten better after so many unfortunate events plagued their past.

And that's why Sunny never had children of her own when she became an adult: _she already had kids._

 **~End of Chapter!**

 **This story isn't over yet; there will be an epilogue!**


	12. Epilogue

**Universe***

 **~Epilogue**

A few weeks later on June 7th it was time for Lizzie's birthday party.

Everyone gathered in the backyard of the estate for the party. And they meant everyone. Jerome Squalor and his husband Charles, and their daughter Hannah, Justice Judy Strauss, and many other friends of the family were able to make it. Captain Widdershins had managed to get some time off V.F.D. business to come, and brought both his crew mates along with him. Other guests included Jacqueline and Larry, Beatrice, Trevor, and Hunter.

Sunny baked and decorated a beautiful cake for her niece's special day; in her favorite flavor of course, chocolate. Unsurprisingly, most of Lizzie's presents had been various books that she had requested from her family members. Fernald even bought her a book about mythological sea creatures that she was happy to share with Sam if he wanted to read it. However, there was one surprise that nobody had been expecting during the party: unexpected guests.

Klaus answered the door to find several adults and three children, "Can I help you?"

One of the adults, a woman who had her hand on her son's shoulder, spoke up, "I'm Katherine Hyde and this is my son Drake. I've been told that his friend Nikki and her cousins live on this property? We were all told about a birthday party for Lizzie Baudelaire and we all agreed to take our kids here."

Klaus raised a brow at the three kids, "So you're the kids that my daughter told us about?"

"Yes sir," The boy with glasses replied. Klaus couldn't help feeling wary of the small present he held in his arms. The boy appeared to be accompanied by two women who both had their arms on him. He must be their son, Klaus concluded internally.

"We're sorry that we weren't really invited, but Lizzie said we could come if we wanted to," The third child, a red haired girl with freckles spoke up, "Everything happened so fast that she might have forgotten."

However, it appeared that Lizzie hadn't forgotten because when she showed up at the door to ask her father what was going on, the young Baudelaire girl got excited about seeing the three of them again and quickly went to hug Lily. She held herself back from hugging Drake and Lucas, as she knew her father would be livid if she did. Klaus happily led the new guests out to the party area to introduce them to the rest of the family and friends.

Nikki and Sam were excited to see their new friends too. Duncan got a lecture from Violet when he got furious over Nikki giving Drake a hug. Drake, Lucas, and Lily had all brought presents for the birthday girl; much to the surprise of no one they were also various books.

Lizzie attempted to return the book that Lucas had given her while they in their Mortmain Mountain prison, but he declined saying he had already replaced it. The book he bought her for her birthday was a mystery novel; he revealed that mysteries were his personal favorite genre. Isadora couldn't help smirking as she watched her daughter talk to her friend. At one point, she even pulled aside Violet, Fiona, and Lucas' mothers, Diana and Shelly, aside and said, "I've seen that look before. Klaus and my brothers are not going to like this."

And it was unfortunately true. Klaus kept an annoyingly close watch on Lucas as he talked with Lizzie. And Duncan and Quigley, Lizzie's faithful, protective uncles, kept close watch on Drake and Lucas as the two boys conversed with Nikki and Lizzie. Duncan wasn't thrilled about the idea of a boy showing interest in his daughter either. Violet and Isadora both rolled their eyes at them. And Quigley was watching both young boys like a hawk. Those were his nieces! How dare they speak to his little nieces? Although, after some time Fiona pulled him aside and smiled as she pointed out the sight of their son Sam talking to his new friend Lily. Lily's parents, Nick and Natasha had noticed it as well; and of course Nick wasn't thrilled about the idea either.

Aside from the obvious tension the adults had about their kids making new "friends," the party actually went quite well. The kids were all playing nice and having fun together, and the adults got to know each other better too. Katherine revealed that they had all been given the estate's address by the woman who returned their children to them after being kidnapped: a woman by the name of Kit Snicket. They weren't privy to the details of why the kidnappings happened, but they didn't need to know. Their children were safe thanks to Sunny, and that was all that mattered.

Lizzie's birthday party went off flawlessly just like intended. And Drake, Lucas, and Lily revealed that they went to the same public school that the Quagmire/Baudelaire cousins went to, so they would be able to see each other often even when school started up again. The six children were surely going to be lifelong friends, even after meeting under such strange and unfortunate circumstances.

And perhaps in the future they might even become something more... if their parents approved of the idea of course.

 **~The End!**

 **I know this was shorter than it probably should have been, but I think it turned out ok! I hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
